Chapter 35

35.

The uninvited guest Free and easy manners Salutary jokes A

prodigal son Exit of the glutton A sudden change in

fortune Danger of a visit to poor relations Plucking of a

prosperous man A vagabond toilet A substitute for the very fine

horse Hard travelling The uninvited guest and the patriarchal

colt A beggar on horseback A catastrophe Exit of the merry

vagabond

As CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE and his men were encamped one evening among

the hills near Snake River, seated before their fire, enjoying a

hearty supper, they were suddenly surprised by the visit of an

uninvited guest. He was a ragged, half-naked Indian hunter, armed

with bow and arrows, and had the carcass of a fine buck thrown

across his shoulder. Advancing with an alert step, and free and

easy air, he threw the buck on the ground, and, without waiting

for an invitation, seated himself at their mess, helped himself

without ceremony, and chatted to the right and left in the

liveliest and most unembarrassed manner. No adroit and veteran

dinner hunter of a metropolis could have acquitted himself more

knowingly. The travellers were at first completely taken by

surprise, and could not but admire the facility with which this

ragged cosmopolite made himself at home among them. While they

stared he went on, making the most of the good cheer upon which

he had so fortunately alighted; and was soon elbow deep in "pot

luck," and greased from the tip of his nose to the back of his

ears.

As the company recovered from their surprise, they began to feel

annoyed at this intrusion. Their uninvited guest, unlike the

generality of his tribe, was somewhat dirty as well as ragged and

they had no relish for such a messmate. Heaping up, therefore, an

abundant portion of the "provant" upon a piece of bark, which

served for a dish, they invited him to confine himself thereto,

instead of foraging in the general mess.

He complied with the most accommodating spirit imaginable; and

went on eating and chatting, and laughing and smearing himself,

until his whole countenance shone with grease and good-humor. In

the course of his repast, his attention was caught by the figure

of the gastronome, who, as usual, was gorging himself in dogged

silence. A droll cut of the eye showed either that he knew him of

old, or perceived at once his characteristics. He immediately

made him the butt of his pleasantries; and cracked off two or

three good hits, that caused the sluggish dolt to prick up his

ears, and delighted all the company. From this time, the

uninvited guest